Shannon Parsley

PRIDE AND JOY: My pride and joy is my marriage to my husband, Jared Redick. He means the world to me. I never go through a day without realizing how fortunate I am.

PERFECT DAY: I love animals. We have two golden retrievers, Zeus and Scarlette. A perfect day would be a peaceful day spent at our favorite lake in Maine with Jared, Zeus and Scarlette, a good book, and lots of tennis ball throwing time. I also have a passion for gardening, cooking, and finding time to try out a new recipe.

LOOKING FORWARD: Professionally: In the short term, I am looking forward to working on some of the masterworks Boston Ballet will be performing  in 2010. Two of them are by choreographer George Balanchine. They are ballets I have danced and love dearly. It will be special for me to help pass them on to the next generation.

Personally: In the short term, I am looking forward to  getting a few things done around the house. We  are in the middle of a long “Nutcracker” run, which means many long days at the Boston Opera House, so everything quickly piles up at home.

In the long term, the future is full of many opportunities for those willing to see them. I look forward to discovering those, and I hope I will be able to take them and run.

PASS IT ON: A few values I live by: Respect for my family, peers and co-workers, for myself, and the art form of ballet; humility;  positive energy; love; honesty.

Words I live by: My longtime mentor and role model from when I was 13 is world famous ballerina Suzanne Farrell.  The career of a professional ballet dancer is fleeting, and we only have this life at this time. Ms. Farrell would always say to us in rehearsal when things got difficult, “what is there to wait or hold back for? You never know what tomorrow can bring.” I love this motto for my own life and I encourage young dancers to make every moment count, both on stage and off

Nominate someone you know for 24/7 of HerStory. This originally appeared inWOMYnZONE, a section for women published in the Patriot Ledger and The Enterprise.